Hundreds of travelers make their way through Salisbury Regional Airport

SALISBURY, Md. – On Wednesday, millions of Americans hit the roads or boarded airplanes to see family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday.

AAA Mid-atlantic predicted that more than 54 million Americans would travel over the holiday weekend, the most travelers since 2005.

AAA also reported that the largest growth in holiday travel is by air this year, with a 5.4% increase.

Isaac White, a Customer Service Supervisor at the Salisbury Regional Airport said, “Thanksgiving is usually one of the largest travel events of the year.”

All throughout the day on Wednesday, hundreds of people rolled into the Salisbury airport, boarding pass in hand, ready to head home for the holidays.

Gilbert Maull, a traveler said, “We’re going to Asheville, North Carolina. We’re going to fly into Charlotte, then drive to Asheville.”

Joshua Conway, a teen traveling with his family from Berlin said, “[We’re flying to] Charlotte, and then from Charlotte to Jacksonville.”

Many travelers opted to fly rather than drive this year, because they say its worth cutting down on the travel time.

Maull said, “We normally drive and I’m normally the driver, and it’s a pretty long drive so we figured we cut it in half this year and just fly into Charlotte.”

The numbers at Salisbury Regional Airport showed that.

White said, “I will say for today, Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, we’re probably 85 to 90 percent full.”

This is the first holiday season that the Salisbury Airport has had all jet planes. The old turbo prop planes are sitting on the tarmac waiting for their new home.

White said, “We were the last station in the Piedmont stations who have a turbo prop…We do have more space to fill up the aircraft now versus the turbo props.”

Passengers told us they’re happy about those new jet planes.

Maull said, “It’s better for me because I normally would sit where the wings are because I want to make sure the motors are still moving you know what I mean?”

While some of the busiest days at the airport have now passed, if you plan on flying on Thanksgiving Day, you are encouraged to arrive early so you don’t miss your flight.

Maull said, “We recommend passengers get to the airport at least an hour before their departure time.”

We’re told the best day for Thanksgiving travel is actually on Thanksgiving day.

After that, the best days for travel are Friday or Saturday.

It is expected to be a busy travel day once again on Sunday.